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Buenos Aires, Argentina. June/July 2021
eurasian and 3 others reacted to Latbear4blk for a topic
Let's start with good news, it looks like (I am afraid of being more assertive) I am leaving this Friday. Easy to say. I have been calling AA every day. Last Sunday, an agent finally offered me a flight this Thursday. She was giving me the choice between seats when the phone line went dead. None of AA numbers were responsive, you would not even get a tone after dialing. I tried all day long with the same result, not even a beep. I went to sleep and tried again yesterday morning. Nada. So I explained my supervisor my situation, got off the grid and went to AA's office in Avda. Santa Fe. It was a 20' walk and the day was nice. Once in AA I had to argue with the security guard who was asking me to call for an appointment, but my charm overcame his resistance. After one hour wait, I got to be placed in a waiting list, given a WhatsApp number, and asked to make follow ups that number, because the phone server was down. This morning, just in case, as I had done every morning since my flight cancellation, I called again. The lines were still dead. So I sent a text message to the WhatsApp number. About one hour after my text, I received an email response offering me three days to choose in economy class, they would confirm that day and then place me in the waiting list for premium economy, which is the ticket I paid for. I picked this Friday, and asked whether I would get a partial refund in case I travel in economy and whether I was able to buy un upgrade to business class in case they had a seat. Always through email, she referred me somewhere else to inquire about the refund, and informed me that the plane was full full full. One hour after that, she sent me another email with the confirmation of my premium economy ticket this Friday. Excellent news for me. As I shared, I am not in love with my new airbnb. Now I have to figure out how to take advantage of my time left here. This weekend was again sunny and beautiful. On Saturday I took advantage of the spring like weather to take a walk with a friend. I think I mentioned before that he would bring me some pot from his brother's harvest. Of course, last Saturday I did not know I only had one week left. It is a lot of pot. Although the quality is not so good, it does its work and I do not want to trash it. I am arranging my will. My weed goes to my good friend Y, the Venezuelan fuckbuddy who got me my first shipment. I will meet him this Thursday, and he will also keep the water pipe I had bought and showed before. But I was going for a walk, when I got distracted by the weed. Just two blocks away from my nest, we have the famous Plaza de Mayo. The Pink House is our White House. The pictures where you do not see it are pictures taken with the Pink House at my back. A close up to the little tend of protesters. Just two nights ago, the whole plaza was taken by protesters although their displays were considerable better looking than this tiny little poor one. Then we walk until the also famous Avda. 9 de Julio, the world widest avenue in Argentinean mythology. In its intersection with the almost equally famous Avenida Corrientes you find the Obelisco. All this area has been refurnished to improve transit, with exclusive lanes for public transport in the Avenida, so this square with the new giant BA is now smaller than it was. However, the landscaping is now better. Along the Avenue the lines are separated in groups by long, thin landscaped walking blocks, each one named after one of the Argentinean provinces. This is Santiago del Estero. After Avda 9 de Julio we headed to the Teatro Colón. Most people think the front of the Colón is the side of the building on Avda 9 de Julio because it is the most known picture, but they are wrong. That famous picture shows actually the back of the building. The real front is in my picture above, in front of Plaza de los Tribunales, another important plaza although not as famous as her sister de Mayo. Plaza de los Tribunales was under construction two years ago, during my last visit. It looks much better now than in my old memories. Look at this incredible gomero. I used to be around this area a lot during the first half of the 90s when I was doing some acting. One of the buildings around this Plaza is the Teatro Cervantes, one of the most beautiful theaters out of the many, many beautiful heaters in Buenos Aires: The Colón and the Cervantes are not the only beautiful, massive, important buildings around Plaza de los Tribunales. I will highlight two more out of all of them. Look at this public High School, right next to the Colón: And of course, the building that gave its name to the Plaza: la Suprema Corte de Justicia. In one of the corners in front of the Plaza, we have one of the many, many traditional cafés in the city. This one is called Le Petit Opéra, and it is very well kept. We enjoyed some snacks there, they have a delicious coffee and bakery. The check was $AR 1,150. Once we recovered our strength, we went to Avenida Corrientes, which is Buenos Aires' Broadway. Theaters are starting to reopen, but the area is yet semi deserted. Since my last visit, they have started to restrict cars transit during some hours, and built a pedestrian stroll along the blocks where most of the big commercial theaters (and the Teatro Municipal San Martín) are located. This is also an area filled with book stores that used to be open 24 hours. I doubt this is still on, but I do not know. Normally, the crow wold make challenging just walking around these sidewalks. This is also an area I visited a lot in my times as political activist and actor. It was sad to see many traditional places, mostly cafés, closed forever, but it was also nice to see this new design, more pedestrian friendly. Sunday was also sunny and bright, but I spent the whole day with my family. I was stressed because of the phone incident I shared at the opening of this post. I was equally stressed on Monday. After fighting with the AA security guy and getting into the waiting list, I met Alan again for a few pictures. And you know the good news today. I have been trying to plan for these few days. I was fantasizing with getting Alan and Tomy together. Unfortunately, it seems that Tomy is in Rosario this week. Let's see what happens. A few friends have been reaching out to me expressing their interest in Buenos Aires. I suggest you all to cool down your enthusiasm and keep learning about the city. It is a great destination for food of all kinds, arquitectural explorations, music and dance of all kinds, theater of all kinds, night life, sex, and who knows what else I am forgetting that is not amongst my interests. But plan for later. First of all, you will not be able to come in, and if you miraculously can you may not be able to get out as planned. Second, the city is not itself amidst a pandemic. Unlike Rio, which never loses its charms, Buenos Aires' fun is greatly diminished by current restrictions. This is going to be one of the last reports on this trip, but probably not the last one.4 points -
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Another in the occasional series of articles from a website I occasionally wrote for a few years ago. The others in the series are Plus ça change . . . Thoughts on the March of Time in this forum and Experiences of Asia (Gay-Related) to While Away These Difficult Times under Gay Asia. This one was sparked by an interview I saw on CNN. I always wonder: who will be next? CNN anchors coming out, I mean. Anderson Cooper had been the subject of rumours for years. Even then, it took some time before he came out on air. Now we know – too well, because it is far too often mentioned that he is a father, even though he is no longer partnered with the man with whom he had the baby. Don Lemon’s engagement to his fiancé is talked about quite a lot in the little dialogues – bromances – he has each time his weekday show abuts that of the non-gay Chris Cuomo. Then there is the channel’s travel/business guru, the goofy Richard Quest, a refugee from the more staid world of the BBC seemingly decades ago, and no doubt surprising to some a barrister who was called to the English bar (the legal one) in 1983. Quest’s coming out followed an interview he had with Lord John Browne, then the CEO of the oil giant BP. Browne, in the closet for 50 years, had been forced to come out after his much younger boyfriend spilled the beans. Browne then wrote a book about his secret life titled The Glass Closet. This tells the story of Browne’s brief double life and his 3-year relationship with a Brazilian he had met on an escort site, his first and only gay affair, even though he had known he was gay since leaving his boarding school. Threatened with exposure by a tabloid newspaper, he tried to get the story quashed. It did not work. Six months short of his 60th birthday he came out as a publicly gay man and has since become a gay activist. The evening following their interview, Quest admitted he had felt guilty discussing homosexuality with Browne. He then told the world that was because he himself is gay. Did anyone really think he could not be? A man who takes his teddy bear with him on all his overnight freebie flights around the world for his Travel Show? Quest had also been a naughty boy. In 2008 he was stopped going through Central Park after closing time. He was found with a stash of crystal meth, a rope around his neck tied to his genitals and a sex toy in the trunk of his car. The media had a field day but CNN supported him even though he has never explained why he was there and what he was doing. After six months they even gave him a new show. I mention all this because I think one of CNN’s great assets is now being underused. Christiane Amanpour is an excellent journalist and interviewer. She has been with the channel for over 25 years. She did leave for a short time in 2010 to join ABC News. This was not a marriage made in heaven. Her programme tanked big time and after little more than a year she left ABC and returned to CNN’s embrace. Her interviews are usually deep and interesting, bringing out a lot about the interviewee. I still recall an interview with actor Andrew Garfield about his appearance as the lead in the Broadway revival of the 2017 London National Theatre’s production of Tony Kushner’s stunning 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the AIDS crisis Angels in America.Kushner also took part in that interview. The point of this post is more about the importance of friendships no matter what’s one’s partnership state. Which brings me back to Ms. Amanpour. Only occasionally I feel she does go a bit overboard and gush too enthusiastically. Back in 2013 she interviewed two celebrated actor knights, Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Patrick Stewart. Both were in London to appear in Harold Pinter’s play “No Man’s Land” receiving stellar reviews. Four years earlier they had appeared on stage together in Berthold Brecht’s Waiting for Godot. It had taken those four years for them each to be free to appear together on stage again. Which is perhaps a little surprising given that these two acting greats are the best and closest of friends. Yet one is gay and proudly out. The other is totally heterosexual having married his third wife in 2013. The actors first met back in the 1970s when working at England’s Royal Shakespeare Company. McKellan by then was well known as one of the UK’s finest up-and-coming actors, almost certainly known to Stewart but not to the public as being gay. Stewart was little more than a jobbing actor with a wife and two young children. Before then it so happened I had seen McKellan during my student years. On a visit to Scotland, I was fortunate to catch a couple of plays being performed at the celebrated Edinburgh Festival, Shakespeare's Richard II and Marlowe's Edward II – the one where Edward is gay and ends his days with a red hot poker up his bum. Playing the title role in each was a young English actor about whom there was a considerable buzz in theatrical circles. The friend who accompanied me was then at drama school and madly in love with him. Unfortunately, he told me, the actor already had a boyfriend. That was the first time I knew Ian McKellan was gay. For both actors Hollywood eventually beckoned, first for Stewart when he was cast in the hugely successful “Star Trek: The Next Generation” television Series in 1987. McKellan continued mostly as a superb stage actor until he found himself in Hollywood in 1998 cast as the ageing real-life gay movie director James Whale, a role that won him a nomination for Best Actor at the 1999 Oscars. By then McKellan had come out as gay and was increasingly in demand in the movie world. It was when he was cast in the first of the “X-Men” series in 2000 that he renewed his friendship with Stewart, also cast in the film. As Stewart said in an interview with The Mirror online – “On movies like that you spend more time sitting in your trailer waiting to work as opposed to being in front of the camera, I’d known Ian back in the 70s but never well - and to be honest I was always a little intimidated by him. But we hung out a lot and found out that we had huge amounts of things in common.” That friendship was to grow into what the tabloids have called the most famous “bromance” in Hollywood. For Stewart’s latest marriage in 2013, McKellan became an ordained minister in some obscure Church, flew to America and officiated at the ceremony. And when McKellan’s movie “Holmes” opened in London in 2015 the pair even enjoyed a lips-on-lips kiss. Watching the interview was fascinating. Seeing these two great actors in the twilights of their lives and careers, they reminded me how important are the bonds of close friendship. In the gay world, it’s all too easy to lose ourselves in the affections of our partner or the latest boyfriend whilst giving less attention to friendships, especially those developed over decades. As I have grown older, I have realised that close non-gay friendships are very important in my life. Gay men do not need to live in their own gay ghetto or to mix mostly with their gay friends. We live in a diverse world, as McKellan and Stewart know well. You can watch their fascinating short interview here (unfortunately you have to copy and paste the link and then it takes a little time to load). https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/10/17/intv-amanpour-ian-mckellen-patrick-stewart.cnn PS: It was only while revising this article that I learned Christiane Amanpour had announced three weeks ago that she had been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She underwent a successful operation and is now undergoing several months of chemotherapy. Hopefully her cancer was discovered early and I wish her a full recovery.2 points
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yes , otherwise money will be wasted2 points
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Infections may be “3-4 times higher” than government-declared total
Ruthrieston and one other reacted to billyhouston for a topic
The situation in Myanmar is far worse. As an example the Junta recorded the number of deaths from COVID in Kale township, Sagaing Division, in the first week of July to be 6. The correct figure is reported (reliably) to be 207. Doctors who went on strike, in support of the protesters, are unable to return to their hopitals because there are arrest warrants out for them. Min Aung Hlaing and his cronies have killed about 900 people since February and arrested 6000. Hospitals in Yangon and Mandalay have no empty beds and probably insufficient medicl staff. Meanwhile, Thailand abstains at the UN and now say they want to work with ASEAN, who are totally useless. Next time you are in Mae Hong Son, look carefully at the design of the Wats and ask yourself why they are as they are?2 points -
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Blasting the For the People Act, Senator Mitch McConnell claimed that the bill’s passage would bring the United States “to the brink of democracy.” “The Democrats can dress this bill up any way they want, but their real agenda couldn’t be clearer,” the Senate Minority Leader said. “They want to turn the United States of America that we love and cherish into a democracy.” Noting that the word “democracy” originated in ancient Greece, he vowed, “I will not sit idly by and watch a foreign form of government sneak across our border.” McConnell rallied his fellow Republican senators by reminding them that “we’re the only thing standing between this country and democracy.” “The people who voted for us did not vote for us so that other people could vote for other people,” he said. https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/mitch-mcconnell-warns-that-voting-bill-would-bring-us-to-brink-of-democracy1 point
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From BBC Travel For years, the Moravia neighbourhood of Medellín was the city's rubbish dump. But in recent years, this former landfill has blossomed into a thriving arts and cultural centre. Stroll through Medellín's working-class Moravia neighbourhood on any given morning and you'll see a hawker belting out "aguacates!" through a small loudspeaker while dragging a wooden wagon of gigantic avocados behind him. Scents of deep-fried cheese-and-dough fritters swirl from heated buñuelo displays. Glancing up amid the winding sea of humble brick-and-cement abodes, a grandma hangs her clothes out to dry on a thin wire on her balcony. Amid it all, motorcycles, delivery trucks and stray dogs do a delicate dance while navigating the narrow roads. This multisensory experience may not seem entirely out of place elsewhere in Colombia, but it was unfathomable here just years ago. That's because, not only was Medellín dogged by its reputation as the world's unofficial "murder capital" for years, but Moravia once had a particularly undesirable reputation within the city: it was its rubbish dump. Medellín is just three decades removed from its designation as "The Most Dangerous City" in the world by Timemagazine. In 1991, the homicide rate peaked at a world-high of 380 per 100,000 people as the country's drug war oozed into the streets and facets of everyday life. Today, those years appear to be long gone. The homicide rate is roughly one-fifteenth of what it once was, there's a genuine sense of revitalisation in the air and public projects are breathing new life into the city. The Morro de Moravia (Moravia Hill) enlivens the urban landscape of Medellin (Credit: Alcadía de Medellín) A squeaky-clean Metro system now whizzes above ground, cable cars string into hillside barrios, and public escalators wind through the once-unnavigable Comuna 13 neighbourhood. Each of these is not only a picturesque way for visitors to take in the city's skyline and sky-high Andes Mountains vistas, but they also connect those in some of Medellín's poorest and hardest-to-navigate neighbourhoods with the centre city and job opportunities. Medellín's central 'mountain' When viewed from above, beige-and-brick structures dot Medellín's landscape. The northern half of the city is enclosed by mountains, but there is one noticeable green heap in the centre of town just north of the Parque Norte amusement park: the Morro de Moravia (Moravia Hill), which is blanketed in grass, walking paths and gardens and is punctuated with a large greenhouse on top. Yet, walking up the mountain, you're greeted with large signs and historical photos showing what life was once like on this now-serene hill: black-and-white images reveal a vast landscape of dirt, hand-made shanties built from rubbish and locals picking through the city's dumped debris. When the Ferrocarril de Antioquia regional railroad connected Moravia with the surrounding countryside in the 1960s, it brought displaced families forced to relocate to the safer confines of the city. Their once-quiet lives outside Medellín had been made dangerous by right- and left-wing militarists engaging in a partisan war over land and goods. Settling in Moravia – which formed in the early 1900s as a linear settlement bordering the railroad and slowly expanded out from it – was a safer bet. In the 1970s, the city authorised the area to be used as a municipal landfill, which led this slowly new barrio to explode into a mountain of garbage. As a result, a number of the previously displaced families were relocated to the western hills of Medellín. Other families resisted further relocation as the trash began piling up all around them. Of the families that resisted and remained, many operated recycling operations out of their homes to make a living. Continues with photos https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210713-moravia-colombias-unexpected-green-oasis1 point
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Romance, Bromance and Plain Old Friendship – Passions and Problems
Ruthrieston reacted to PeterRS for a topic
Thank you for correcting my spelling. You are correct. He did not come out until he was 49. But then, if my memory is correct, there were not many who came out in the 1970s/early 1980s. In the acting business. it was known that some people like Sir Laurence Olivier were bisexual and others like Sir John Gielgud were gay. But being found to be gay in England was a criminal offence until 1967. Gielgud had suffered considerably after he was found in a public toilet ("cottage") in the early 1950s and arrested. He was then also 49. Although one of Britain's finest actors and a major 'star', the negative publicity affected both his career and his health as he was to suffer a nervous breakdown soon after. I think this public humiliation of such a great actor inevitably affected the profession as a whole for many years even after the repeal of the homosexuality law. Another well known gay actor is Sir Derek Jacobi. The same age as McKellen, he also remained in the closet as far as the public was concerned only coming out, I believe, after McKellen. Actors were paid peanuts in those days. Many, including McKellen, undertook extensive touring around major British cities to make ends meet, usually staying in theatrical 'digs' as hardly any could afford even a proper guest house. I believe it was also true that for many in the profession, although perhaps not for McKellen and some others, that you were only as good as your last performance. There remained in the country a general fear among local theatre managers and landladies about the local media finding out that a gay man was in a touring production. It seems ridiculous today, but then times have changed massively. With the greatest respect, I do not think anyone could be blamed for being gay and remaining in the closet in those days. That was very much the course of my life until i came out in my early 30s. It would be particularly true of pubic figures. Offhand I cannot think of any actors who did, although playwrights like Joe Orton were openly (and some would say outrageously) gay while others like the stage designer/director Derek Jarman were not only out but activists as well. Were they not few and far between? By the time McKellen came out, he was a very big name in theatre but had not yet made his name in film. He came out to the public in 1988. The reason he came out was not a result of being 'outed'. It was over a bill Prime Minster Thatcher was trying to ram through parliament prohibiting local authorities from promoting homosexuality especially in schools. McKellen spoke out against this on a radio programme and announced he was gay at the same time. So you could say he became an activist as he came out. I think I wrote in another forum that McKellen has done a great deal since then to promote gay activism. He has spoken, often by video link or a taped interview, all around Asia. He even gave an interview to a gay magazine printed for some years in Chiang Mai! The story I like best is when he was performing King Lear in Singapore 14 years ago. Doing an early morning interview on one of the city state's radio stations, he was asked what he would like to see in Singapore. "I'd love it if someone could show me the way to a nice gay bar," was the reply. The producer had a fit and pulled the plug on the rest of the interview. https://www.smh.com.au/world/ian-mckellen-urges-singapore-to-recognise-gay-rights-20070717-o84.html1 point -
From Thai Enquirer / WSJ The latest wave of the coronavirus outbreak caused by the Delta variant may be too contagious for existing social distancing measures, experts say. The latest data reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) this week adds to these findings, with researchers telling the paper that the Delta variant may be so transmissible that they are “worried the virus could leak out easier and require harsher lockdowns.” As of June 22, 2021, more than 4,500 sequences of the variant have been detected in at least 78 countries, including Thailand. Hotel quarantines, according to the WSJ article, may no longer suffice. Australia’s lockdowns Researchers cite a case in Australia where two people who quarantined in adjacent hotel rooms and opened doors within seconds of one another to fetch their meals was infected with the Delta variant. This led to another outbreak and lockdown Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest metropolis. Health authorities believe that those brief seconds of exchange from one hotel room to another could have been enough for the virus to spread via airborne transmission. On June 28, Australia locked down two more of its major cities – Sydney and Darwin – due to the Delta variant. Japan’s Olympic ban Japan, which is set to host this summer’s Olympics, is also going through another emergency due to the highly infectious Delta variant outbreak. Last Thursday, the organizers revised previous plans and said that the Olympics will now take place “without spectators” in Tokyo, as the country has once again declared a state of emergency in the capital. Citizens are also being told to not gather for events in public spaces such as the triathlon, although some venues outside the capital may allow some spectators. Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga explained that it was especially vital that Tokyo, where the Delta variant is now spreading rapidly, does not become the new epicentre of another outbreak. There are also concerns that with the rate of infections soaring in the capital right now, the virus could also spread to the rest of the country, the Prime Minister added. “We absolutely must avoid Tokyo being the starting point again of another spread of the infection,” Suga said. Israel’s new strategy Israel, for the majority of the past two years, was incredibly successful in containing the virus and rolling out the vaccine. The country has been at the heart of what analysts say is “one of the world’s fastest vaccination programmes.” But 10 days after it had ditched its mask-wearing policy and celebrated its no social distancing, Israeli authorities reversed course on June 24 on mask wearing due to the spread of the Delta variant. The recent surge of the Delta variant has had authorities concerned that even its vaccination drive, which was able to control the virus for the most part of the past year, may no longer work. With around 60 per cent of Israel’s population having received at least one jab of the Pfizer vaccine, the government has decided earlier this week that they will begin offering a third booster shot for those with compromised immune systems. With new daily Covid-19 infections running at about 450 cases a day in Israel, the Delta variant now makes up about 90 per cent of the cases. South Korea’s new wave South Korea, another Covid-19 success story, had managed to curb its hard-hit coronavirus outbreak since last year. However, authorities now believe that their encouragement for the country to “open” back up and for its inoculated citizens to go mask-free outdoors may have been premature — due to the latest surge in cases surrounding the Delta variant. On July 9, health authorities in Seoul announced that they will be ramping up lockdown restrictions throughout the city, urging everyone, vaccinated and not, to wear masks outdoors and limiting the size of gatherings. As of July 12, the country has imposed strict social distancing measures in Seoul and its surrounding regions. Schools will go remote, nightlife and entertainment venues will be closed, and evening social gatherings will be limited to only two people. Rallies are banned and only family members can attend weddings and funerals. https://www.thaienquirer.com/29793/delta-at-the-heart-of-new-infections-worldwide-may-require-new-lockdown-protocol/1 point
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In case anyone is interested for future reference, I have had confirmed from the hotel that joiners are allowed at the Banyan Tree in Bangkok.1 point
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From The Thaiger The Thai Immigration Bureau is warning foreign residents and the general public to be careful of people who are impersonating as immigration police officers and asking for bribes or other payments. Apparently, the people posing as immigration officers are approaching individual foreigners and are inspecting establishments like factories, which tend to employ migrant workers. If approached by someone claiming to be an immigration police officer, the bureau says to ask to see a police identity card. Immigration Bureau would like to inform you that if you see those with such behaviours or suspect someone is impersonating an immigration officer, please ask for a police identity card containing personal information such as a police rank, name, surname, organisation name for primary examination. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/public-warned-about-immigration-police-impersonators-asking-for-bribes1 point
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Romance, Bromance and Plain Old Friendship – Passions and Problems
floridarob reacted to TotallyOz for a topic
Beautifully written and thought out. I was lucky enough to see McKellan in person at the Globe and have drinks with him at a pub much before he became famous. He was very distinguished even back then. Anderson Cooper has done a great deal for the gay rights movement. I have always admired him and think he is a great anchor. I do wander why he gave up on his friendship with that comedian he used to do NYE with each year. Not a great friend if you put someone aside like that.1 point -
People gained immunity after exposure or died.1 point
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Buenos Aires, Argentina. June/July 2021
reader reacted to Latbear4blk for a topic
In one of my first calls to American to inquire about earlier tickets, the agent on the other side of the line recognized me. He told me he remembered me from three years ago. Unbelievable. Following his advise, I have been calling everyday at 8am. No changes. Current restrictions expire this Friday, and there is a lot of expectations about whether the government will soften or harden them. I am not anxious about it, there is nothing I can do about it and all the pundits are just playing the guessing game. So far, I am staying until August 4th. I wanted to say goodbye to Palermo before moving to my new base. I walked down to what I believe is Palermo Soho. I am a little lost with all these realtors made up new neighborhoods. I walked around Plaza Armenia, enjoying an amazing sunny week end. Of course, the neighborhood fair was up, and they would take your temperature before being allowed in. I was glad that the park was fenced, to keep children away. I chose a cafe in a corner, to have a brunch sitting in a sidewalk table, under the sun. After brunching, I walked back to Palermo Hollywood. On the other side of Plaza Armenia, instead of a food fair there was an art craft fair. It was not a long walk, but the neighborhood has plenty of treasures. Palermo used to be not so trendy in this area because of inundations. Avda Juan B Justo, one of the many main arteries across the neighborhood, used to be a creek. It was intubated and burry, but the water stream increased with time and with a moderate rain the building would be one meter under water. Once the intubation was updated and the inundations stopped, Palermo Renaissance started. Another important infrastructure project that changed the area's physiognomy was the elevation of the train. All the land that used to belong to the railroad company is now being redesign mostly as new public open spaces. An example: What you see at the picture's right side is the elevated railroad. On both sides the city is landscaping public parks. Many are still under construction. Besides a last walk, I also had to visit my new favorite bakery in Buenos Aires. Panadería Don Blanco. Last Tuesday, I moved to my new airbnb. I chose the place because the pictures showed me a nice stage for new photoshoots with Alan. I am so disappointed. This was the first big mistake I made in this trip. Not only the place is actually smaller than expected. Not only there is limited natural light and the inside lighting is bad. The worst thing is that it does not feel like an airbnb. It is a beautiful, traditional building in the historic area of the city, Palacio Raggio. A huge, five stories building that serve different functions throughout its life. Now it was refurnished into small apartments. It feels like you are in an hotel, without the advantages of being in an hotel. I like airbnb because you stay in a place where someone is living, or could be. I doubt anyone is living in this building. These are all short term renting units, I bet. The first impression was just worse than disappointing. I was unpacking and settling down. I found an power outlet adaptor in a bookshelf, and plugged it on the power wall power source. The whole power shut down. I had to go to the reception and they had to restaure the power from the central control. Imagine my mood. This place definitely suck. I needed something comforting to cheer me up. A few days before I had found Jason in Skokka. Another Venezuelan import. The link is already gone, but I have a screen shot. I had seen him in one of LatinLeche clips, and in the local forums I found good references. The contact was quick as I did not have any questions. His response to my first contact was Besides cheering me up and out of my disappointment, I wanted to try the security system in this stupid fancy pretentious building. Jason arrived on time, he had texted me on his way and I was waiting for him in the lobby. He had to present his ID and his full name and time of entry were recorded. I hated it but it was not so bad. I could do this everyday, if I want to. The meeting was OK. Jason was very nice and likable, and did not care about watching the time. After a long conversation we started kissing, and I was not very happy. I was expecting something more passionate. We moved to the bed, which was still intact. He is beautiful, with tasteful tattoos and a huge dick. The kissing was still lacking, though. The temperature started to heat up when he gave me head. It was not outstanding but definitely good. When I turned him around and started to eat his ass, then the thing turned really hot. He was moaning, directing my work just as I like it to be. His ass was smooth, tight, and delicious. I thought that was pretty good. However, the thing actually erupted when my dick went in. The boy freaked and for the first time I felt he was really devouring my mouth while I was digging him. He is definitely an outstanding bottom, which compensated the other deficits. Overall, it was an OK experience sexually, and a very nice social meeting. I escorted (ha!) him for a few blocks when he left, and then returned to sleep my first night in my new nest. That was yesterday, Tuesday. Today was my first day teleworking full time, and it was rainy, so I did not explore my new neighborhood. The little bit I saw looks like crap after Palermo.1 point -
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From Thai Enquirer The government will pass an emergency decree this week aimed at battling disinformation but critics say the act is open to abuse and could be used to silence dissidents. According to the government, this emergency decree, emergency order number 27, is meant to suppress harmful information that could cause the public to panic during the coronavirus pandemic. The government has said that misinformation about its policies have caused undue panic and unwarranted criticism, something it wants to cut down on. However, critics warns that the way the act is written means that the government could use it to silence critics and dissidents. “The new order is very vague,” said Yingcheep Atchanont, a leading activist at the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw). “The government does not define what kind of information could be deemed as information that is “creating fear amongst the public.” He said that a similar order which came out last year clearly identified fake news as news that would cause undue panic among the public. However, this new order changes the wording from “causing the public to panic” to “creating fear amongst the public” and they have left out the part which said that such information must not be real. The new order also bans information that would “detablise the state” which is broader than the previous order. “With the changes in the wording, the new order is even broader than the last one,” Yingcheep said. He said in a normal situation, a bill must pass the parliament’s scrutiny before it becomes law. However, the emergency decree allows the Prime Minister to come up with executive orders that bypasses the legislature. https://www.thaienquirer.com/29749/government-to-pass-new-information-decree-this-week-critics-calls-decree-problematic/0 points